Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Camp-Like Family Compound Off the Maine Coast
On a remote island in Penobscot Bay, a summer-camp-inspired trio of cabins promotes connection to family and to nature
New York architect Nate McBride was making the hourlong ferry ride from Rockland, Maine, to the island of North Haven when the site of a retreat he was designing on the island came into view. As he pondered how to keep the new home from overwhelming the coastline’s natural beauty, inspiration struck: What if the house was fragmented into several pieces, sort of like a summer camp? He started sketching on the back of a plane ticket, and that sketch ultimately led to three modest but carefully considered cabins — a four-season communal space and two three-season sleeping cabins — that now sit in conversation with one another and with the landscape.
The couple’s needs were fairly simple: space for cooking, dining and family time; a bedroom for themselves and for each of their two adult kids; and an overflow sleeping area for guests and eventual grandkids. Since the kids and guests visit only during summer, some spaces didn’t even need to be four-season.
“They didn’t want anything ostentatious. The culture of the island is not showy. If you have money, it’s very uncool to show it,” McBride says with a laugh.
His summer camp concept allowed him to serve the couple’s practical and aesthetic needs while blending the smaller structures into the land’s contours. At the same time, each cabin could be oriented to maximize different views, and the passage between the cabins would reinforce the occupants’ connection with the outdoors.
This view shows the primary bedroom in the foreground and the main house in the rear, connected by a deck. (Scroll to the bottom to see the layout of the two structures.)
All of the structures are covered in locally sourced Alaskan cedar shingles, which is typical for houses in the region. They silver over time, blending into the rocky landscape.
“It seems like an aesthetic choice. It’s actually pragmatic,” McBride says. “The weather is so extreme. The wind is so intense. The hot and cold spectrum is just radical. And because the material is not very wide, it can expand and contract depending on different conditions. It’s also very easy to replace.”
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
“They didn’t want anything ostentatious. The culture of the island is not showy. If you have money, it’s very uncool to show it,” McBride says with a laugh.
His summer camp concept allowed him to serve the couple’s practical and aesthetic needs while blending the smaller structures into the land’s contours. At the same time, each cabin could be oriented to maximize different views, and the passage between the cabins would reinforce the occupants’ connection with the outdoors.
This view shows the primary bedroom in the foreground and the main house in the rear, connected by a deck. (Scroll to the bottom to see the layout of the two structures.)
All of the structures are covered in locally sourced Alaskan cedar shingles, which is typical for houses in the region. They silver over time, blending into the rocky landscape.
“It seems like an aesthetic choice. It’s actually pragmatic,” McBride says. “The weather is so extreme. The wind is so intense. The hot and cold spectrum is just radical. And because the material is not very wide, it can expand and contract depending on different conditions. It’s also very easy to replace.”
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
This is the interior of the main house, looking out across Penobscot Bay toward the mainland. The structure — nicknamed Papa Bear —measures 1,180 square feet (110 square meters).
McBride’s firm handled the interior design, blending many of the clients’ own furnishings with found pieces to create a classic, collected New England coastal cottage look. A Noguchi-style paper lantern hangs from the ceiling.
In an homage to the original family home next door, this cabin has a post-and-beam structure. While McBride and his team did their best to use local materials, the heavy, exposed oak beams came from an old barn in Montana. The structure was made off the island, then brought in by barge and erected on site.
First, though, a foundation needed to be poured, which required bringing over a cement truck by ferry. What ensued is a good example of the challenges faced in building on an island.
“The ferry was hit by a rogue wave and the concrete truck tipped over,” McBride recounts. “It was, like, the biggest event on the island in two decades!”
Timber post-and-beam frame: Rockport Post & Beam; living area wall fixtures: Barn Light Electric
McBride’s firm handled the interior design, blending many of the clients’ own furnishings with found pieces to create a classic, collected New England coastal cottage look. A Noguchi-style paper lantern hangs from the ceiling.
In an homage to the original family home next door, this cabin has a post-and-beam structure. While McBride and his team did their best to use local materials, the heavy, exposed oak beams came from an old barn in Montana. The structure was made off the island, then brought in by barge and erected on site.
First, though, a foundation needed to be poured, which required bringing over a cement truck by ferry. What ensued is a good example of the challenges faced in building on an island.
“The ferry was hit by a rogue wave and the concrete truck tipped over,” McBride recounts. “It was, like, the biggest event on the island in two decades!”
Timber post-and-beam frame: Rockport Post & Beam; living area wall fixtures: Barn Light Electric
This is the opposite view, looking back toward the kitchen and dining area, with the front door in between.
The homeowners, who love to snowshoe and cross-country ski, enjoy visiting in the winter, so this main cabin is built for four-season living. It has a Jotul wood stove and a Warmboard Radiant floor heating system.
Rustic-grade white oak flooring: A.E. Sampson & Son
The homeowners, who love to snowshoe and cross-country ski, enjoy visiting in the winter, so this main cabin is built for four-season living. It has a Jotul wood stove and a Warmboard Radiant floor heating system.
Rustic-grade white oak flooring: A.E. Sampson & Son
In the kitchen, McBride and his team mixed materials and colors and omitted upper cabinetry and a traditional exhaust hood to keep the space from feeling too suburban and too — well, kitchen-y. Instead, the space feels part and parcel with the rest of the open-plan room and as if it developed over time.
The light green paint on the wood backsplash is Farrow & Ball’s Cooking Apple Green, and the darker green lower cabinetry paint is Benjamin Moore‘s Buckingham Gardens. A vertical-grain Douglas fir counter sits atop the perimeter cabinets, while a zinc counter is on the custom-made island base of reclaimed white oak. The big farm sink is also reclaimed. If you look to the upper left of the stove in the previous picture, you can see a black exhaust fan discreetly built into the wall.
Cabinetry: Tidewater Millwork; faucet: Chicago Faucets; vintage sink: Strom Plumbing; lights: Barn Light Electric pendants, Schoolhouse wall fixtures
The light green paint on the wood backsplash is Farrow & Ball’s Cooking Apple Green, and the darker green lower cabinetry paint is Benjamin Moore‘s Buckingham Gardens. A vertical-grain Douglas fir counter sits atop the perimeter cabinets, while a zinc counter is on the custom-made island base of reclaimed white oak. The big farm sink is also reclaimed. If you look to the upper left of the stove in the previous picture, you can see a black exhaust fan discreetly built into the wall.
Cabinetry: Tidewater Millwork; faucet: Chicago Faucets; vintage sink: Strom Plumbing; lights: Barn Light Electric pendants, Schoolhouse wall fixtures
A full bathroom is just inside the front door, with a zinc tub deck and a vintage-style utility sink. As in the rest of the compound’s structures, the paneling is made of inexpensive pine boards and whitewashed using Benjamin Moore Snowfall White.
Sink: Kohler; sink fittings: Chicago Faucets; tub and shower fittings: Strom Plumbing; toilet: American Standard; bathtub: Cheviot; accessories: Samuel Heath; hooks: Baldwin; sconces: Barn Light Electric
Shop for utility sinks
Sink: Kohler; sink fittings: Chicago Faucets; tub and shower fittings: Strom Plumbing; toilet: American Standard; bathtub: Cheviot; accessories: Samuel Heath; hooks: Baldwin; sconces: Barn Light Electric
Shop for utility sinks
Across from the bathroom is a niche for dropping bags and hanging beach towels and hats.
Cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore’s San Pedro Morning are built into a niche next to the dining table.
Read more stories about vacation homes
Read more stories about vacation homes
The stairs to the right of the cabinets lead to a sleeping loft overlooking the communal space. A study with a view up the coast is tucked into a dormer.
The owners sleep in the loft during the winter. During the summertime, it’s used by guests.
Shop for bedroom furniture
The owners sleep in the loft during the winter. During the summertime, it’s used by guests.
Shop for bedroom furniture
A wooden deck connects a 410-square-foot (38-square-meter) primary sleeping cabin, or Mama Bear, to the main cabin. Look back to the first picture and scroll to the floor plan at the bottom of the story to see how the two structures relate to each other.
Mama Bear has windows on three sides, affording a panoramic view.
Windows and exterior door: Little Harbor Window
Windows and exterior door: Little Harbor Window
The three-season structure is unheated, so it’s essentially shut down during the winter.
The floors are simple plywood painted with Benjamin Moore exterior-grade porch and floor enamel in Cedar Grove.
“It’s so Maine,” McBride says of the cost-effective and practical — yet very charming — flooring solution.
The floors are simple plywood painted with Benjamin Moore exterior-grade porch and floor enamel in Cedar Grove.
“It’s so Maine,” McBride says of the cost-effective and practical — yet very charming — flooring solution.
In Mama Bear’s bathroom, McBride used a prefabricated terrazzo shower pan for simplicity’s and cost’s sake.
The windows recess completely into the walls and can be left open in the summer to create an outdoor-shower experience.
Shower pan: Florestone; sink and shower fittings: Chicago Faucets; sink: Kohler; toilet: American Standard; accessories: Samuel Heath; hooks: Baldwin; sconces: Barn Light Electric
The windows recess completely into the walls and can be left open in the summer to create an outdoor-shower experience.
Shower pan: Florestone; sink and shower fittings: Chicago Faucets; sink: Kohler; toilet: American Standard; accessories: Samuel Heath; hooks: Baldwin; sconces: Barn Light Electric
A three-season, 360-square-foot (33-square-meter) bunkhouse —aka Baby Bear — used by adult children and guests is just a short walk down a path. It has two bedrooms, each of which has its own sink and light coming in from three sides.
The bedroom pictured here has plywood floors painted in cheerful Happily Ever After from Benjamin Moore.
The bedroom pictured here has plywood floors painted in cheerful Happily Ever After from Benjamin Moore.
The second bedroom’s plywood floors are painted with Benjamin Moore’s Lazy Sunday.
The two rooms are connected by a double-sink bathroom. The toilet is peeking out on the right.
Interior doors: TruStile; antique porcelain doorknobs: Crown City Hardware
The two rooms are connected by a double-sink bathroom. The toilet is peeking out on the right.
Interior doors: TruStile; antique porcelain doorknobs: Crown City Hardware
A shower with a view of the ocean sits directly across from the toilet — a feature you might say embodies the unpretentious yet carefully thought-out nature of the entire compound’s design.
Shower fittings: Chicago Faucets
Shower fittings: Chicago Faucets
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two adult children
Location: North Haven, Maine
Size: 1,950 square feet (181 square meters) combined; four bedrooms, three bathrooms
Architect: Nate McBride (principal) and Brooke Harris (associate) of McBride
Architects
Contractor: Chris Stone of Stone Contracting & Building
McBride had been hired by a Massachusetts couple in their 60s, one of whom had grown up vacationing on North Haven, where her parents had reconstructed an old post-and-beam Vermont barn on a peninsula. She loved the island and the home’s setting, but as her extended family grew, space and privacy in the original home became scarce. That compelled her and her husband to purchase the adjacent undeveloped property in order to build a separate retreat for themselves, their two grown children and eventual grandchildren.
Living on an unbridged island isn’t easy, and building a home on one is even tougher, both in terms of labor availability and the logistics of bringing materials over by boat. Fortunately, McBride, whom the clients met through a mutual friend, had already designed several houses on the island and worked with local contractors, which eased the process.
In this photo, you can see the three structures that make up the new compound. The client’s parents’ house is not visible from it (or in the photo), but it’s within easy walking distance.
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